Weetabix Insect Pictures
- Finding Flies in my Breakfast Cereal

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The following is my blog entry of the Weetabix incident:

I have commented on my Weetabix experience here, but the following is the reason why I think the Weetabix flies came all the way from the Weetabix factory:

1. The Weetabix flies were not found anywhere else in my apartment. I had another package of Weetabix open (inadvertently opened two Weetabix cartons at once), and the flies were not present in the other Weetabix box.

2. The Weetabix flies were located at the bottom of the package. If you enlarge the above picture, you will see that all the insect holes are in the bottom of the package. Please also pay attention to the fly in the bottom left corner (on its way in or out), I certainly hope I did not eat any of those fellows.

3. According to the package, Weetabix should not be subjected to strong heat. During summer in Japan, that is virtually impossible unless you put the Weetabix package in the fridge. The Japanese summer heat was probably sufficient for the British flies to hatch.

Anyway, I will contact Weetabix today through their homepage to see if they have an answer. Perhaps they will argue that some flies made it from my garbage or garden and settled in my Weetabix package. At least, that may help me solve this mystery.

 After emailing the company with photographs of the flies and a link to the following page, the following is their response:

Thank you for your email, and the photographs.

From them, I am certain the insects were Biscuit Beetle (Stegobium paniceum), a pest known to be attracted to various commodities including biscuits, pet food, spices, herbs, flour, bread, cake mixes, nuts, dried fruits and seeds. We acknowledge the association with stored foods but would stress these are not a problem in our factories or warehouses. They can, however, enter a carton by crawling under an end flap whilst in storage.

Breakfast cereals are attractive sources of food and habitation for insects. Prolonged storage would increase the risk.

Knowing that, we make certain our factory and warehouse are hygienic and clean at all times. We could not afford to do less; producing thousands of packets every hour, many could be affected if we failed to recognise the potential risk.

Our production of cereals, from the sourcing of raw materials, through delivery and testing, to the manufacturing process itself is under very strict controls indeed. In addition, we inspect containers prior to loading products destined for export. Any that do not reach our high standards are returned.

We do not in fact receive complaints of infested consignments from within the UK or worldwide and only receive isolated insect reports.

Another consideration is the temperature at which the biscuits are baked. In the range of 185° - 200°C, they result in the cereal being virtually sterile after manufacture.

Bearing in mind all the known facts we are certain this is an untypical complaint, whereby the insects entered the packet after it left our hands. Unfortunately, we cannot speculate as to where or when this happened.

Having said that, we certainly share your understandable concern. Please be assured however that as a major producer of breakfast cereals we do maintain very high standards of quality and food safety. We are particularly aware of our responsibilities, bearing in mind how popular our products are with adults and children alike. We would never knowingly put our reputation at risk; it has been earned over many years and is too valuable to jeopardise.

Please accept our sincere apology for the upset and inconvenience caused.
 

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